CVS to pay $11 million to settle Oklahoma drug records case

The retail pharmacy chain CVS will pay $11 million to the federal government to settle claims that the firm kept faulty prescription drug records at Oklahoma pharmacies.

Customers take advantage of the drive-thru pharmacy window outside a CVS drugstore in a Bainbridge Township, Ohio. AP Photo

The settlement stems from a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into alleged record-keeping abuses at CVS pharmacies in Oklahoma.

DEA investigators found numerous instances of inaccurate record keeping at CVS pharmacies during the investigation, including false DEA registration numbers and mislabeled prescriptions, according to court documents filed in the case.

CVS operates 46 retail pharmacies in Oklahoma.

Rhode Island-based CVS admitted to no wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but the company agreed that its stores must comply with federal controlled-substance record-keeping laws.

In a written statement, CVS said that it agreed to settle the matter to avoid “time consuming litigation.”

“CVS/pharmacy is committed to the highest standards of ethics and business practices, including complying with all federal and state laws governing the dispensing of prescriptions and related record-keeping requirements,” the statement said.

CVS cooperated with the government's investigation and has improved its record keeping polices as a result, the company said.

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Brianna Bailey has lived in Idaho, Germany and Southern California, but Oklahoma is her adopted home. She has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and has worked at several newspapers in Oklahoma and Southern...